


Falling snow

by Aqua111



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Memories, Snowball Fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 13:38:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19230217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aqua111/pseuds/Aqua111
Summary: Once done as a Christmas present for a friend of mine. A bit of cheesy and maybe also bittersweet fluff with Moonwatcher reminiscing about the time he met his wife.





	Falling snow

The snow covered landscape was bathed in soft moonlight. Slowly Moonwatcher spun around in circles, his arms outstreched, his face turned up to the sky so the snowflakes could land on it. Many decades ago he had learned to love the winter as much as he loved the night. A soft smile appeared on his face when he remembered these days of his past.

~~~***~~~

Snowflakes were falling, children were laughing and playing in the snow, the stands were decorated with greenery or sparkling ornaments, once in a while he spotted men wearing white beards and red and white clothes. Moonwatcher marvelled at the scenery around him with wide eyes and open mouth. Once in a while he quickly spun around so he could take in as much as possible of the view. He had hardly ever been to the city, let alone to a market like this. When he was just done admiring the lights of one stand and was about to walk to the next he realised he had lost sight of Steppenwolf who had accompanied him to the market. Moonwatcher shrugged - it wasn't the first time something like this happened. In fact it was the main reason why he hardly ever had been taken to the city or crowded places to begin with - he always would become distracted and get lost somewhere. During his childhood his father had hoped it would become better over the years but Moonwatcher was in his twenties now and still had the tendency to wander off unnoticed while his mind was on something else. He decided to walk back to the centre of the market with the big tree and wait there for Steppenwolf. Eventually the two would find each other again and if not he knew he was supposed to get back to Haven at dusk.

In front of the tree Moonwatcher decided to pass the time by stretching out his arms, looking up to the sky, grinning as snowflakes landed on his face and spinning around in circles fast until he lost balance, stumbled around a couple of steps and fell into the snow - only to then laugh, jump up and repeat it a couple of times. A couple of people stared at him but he didn't even notice them.  
Until he crashed into someone. They both tumbled to the ground. Items were flying out of the shopping back the other person was carrying and rolled into the snow.  
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," Moonwatcher quickly apologized. "I hope you're not hurt. Of course I will pay for anything I damaged."  
He helped to quickly pick up the spilled items. For the first time he now looked up to see who he had run into. It was a female with freckles, dark hair and green eyes. When she noticed his gaze she quickly looked on the ground again and mumbled, "No, everything is alright. Don't mind it."  
"Balls..." Moonwatcher suddenly said. She looked at him again now a bit confused and he pointed at a crumpled pack of Christmas tree balls lying on the ground. "The balls, they are damaged. I think I landed on them."  
The female shook her head. "It's fine, really. They were on sale anyways."  
Moonwatcher stood up and with a smile offered her a hand. "If you don't want me to pay for the damage at least let me invite you to a drink or something."

"I don't think I introduced myself yet," the female said when they were standing at one of the tables in front of a punch stand. "My name is Lunama-Re. You can call me Luna." She was clutching to her cup looking a bit nervous but still happy that someone invited her.  
"That actually sounds really sweet. I am Moonwatcher."  
"Like the Guardian?" she curiously asked.  
He smiled. "I AM the Guardian."  
For a moment Luna looked shocked as if she couldn't believe that out of all the people she was invited by a Guardian but she quickly tried to hide it by taking another sip from her drink. "That sounds ... quite like a fascinating job," she sputtered just to keep the conversation going. "At least better than just handing out books to other people each day. I work at a library."  
"Really?" Moonwatcher leaned forward. "I love books. They can take your imagination to so many different places. Or ... at least I love audiobooks. Hardly ever can concentrate on reading for too long."  
As if to proof his lack of ability to concentrate on something for a longer amount of time his gaze wandered off and he curiously watched something behind her. She turned around and saw a stand selling chestnuts.  
"That looks edible," he said sounding fascinated. "I have never tried or even seen something like it though."  
Luna lifted up a finger. "Wait here," she told him, then she walked over to the stand and bought a pack of chestnuts.  
"Be careful though," she said when she returned and held out the pack to Moonwatcher. "They might be..."  
But it was too late. Moonwatcher had already grabbed one of them and burned his fingers.  
"...hot..." she finished as the Guardian cooled his fingers in the snow.  
"Thanks for the warning," he gave her a sheepish grin then went for another try and put the a little cooler chestnut in his mouth. "Tastes funny," he commented as he crunched through the shell.  
"Uh... you are supposed to peel it first," Luna said and couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Are all Guardians that ... helpless when it comes to ordinary things?"  
Moonwatcher reached for another chestnut, taking care to crack it open first this time. "Well, not my father at least. And probably my grandfather neither. I might be a special case of dumb."  
"I think it's kinda cute," Luna silently mumbled but then quickly hid behind her cup again.

"There you finally are," Steppenwolf said when hours later Moonwatcher showed up back at Haven again. "I already thought you now got lost for good. Have you at least had fun?"  
"Yeah, definitely had," Moonwatcher replied with a slight grin. "Enough so that I want to go there again tomorrow. But ... well, let's just say I think by now I am old enough to know the way there myself."  
Steppenwolf gave him a curious look but then he said, "I think I know this gaze. I see it each time I am with your mother. You have met someone, haven't you?"  
Moonwatcher just shrugged but that was more than enough reply for his father.

The next day Moonwatcher arrived at the market way too early but that way he at least had more than enough time to walk around and have a look at the different goods. In his case it rather ended up as a series of quick rushes from stand to stand until he was stopped short by bumping into someone. This time he kept his balance but the other person dropped into the snow.  
"I think this is becoming a kind of running gag between us," Luna said looking up at him with an awkward smile. The ground around her was covered in books.  
Moonwatcher hurried to help her pick up the books before they could get soaked with snow, all the while apologizing profoundly.   
"I actually was about to quickly stop by the library and drop these before our get-together," Luna told him when they stood up again, their arms full of books.  
"Well, I could now help you to carry them. And maybe even sort them in," Moonwatcher quickly offered. "Unless you already have made plans for something else we could do during our date." He noticed how her cheeks slightly reddened at the mention of a date but he quickly hid his grin and decided not to mention it.  
"It ... yes, actually it would be a big help, thank you," she said gratefully.

"Welcome to my domain," Luna said after they had walked up a flight of stairs in an older building and she had unlocked a door. In here surrounded by shelves stacked with books she seemed to feel more comfortable and confident.  
Moonwatcher turned around in a circle and looked at the room in awe - among all the places he had never visited a library was one of them - and promptly ran into a shelf.  
Luna rose her eyebrows but her lips also curled up in amusement. "Sometimes I wonder if you're even from this planet..." she commented.

After a short instruction and a look at the filing system they started their work of sorting not only the new books but also others that still were lying in the storage or behind the counter.  
"So... has this been some kind of dream job for you?" Moonwatcher asked. "It seems like you really feel at home here."  
Luna weighed a book in her hands for a couple of seconds before she replied. "Second-hand dream so to say. Not that I don't like this work, but if I had the choice I would have studied astronomy. But with four brothers there just never was enough money for everyone in the family. So I took something else that I liked and which I could be trained in without investing money. I did put savings aside in hope that one day I could study but ... well, all childhood dreams sooner or later have to die, don't they?" She smiled while still looking at the book but it was a sad smile.   
Moonwatcher had stepped closer to her. "Don't give up yet. Unlike me you at least have a choice." He put a hand on her shoulder but then bit his lips and awkwardly shuffled away again.  
For a moment they continued working in silence, then Luna pulled a book from a shelf. "You like to send your imagination on a journey, don't you?" she said. "I think you might like this one." She sat down on a bench before the shelves, opened the first page and started reading. "The pyramid rose from deep snow. Around them the Egyptian desert stretched out, covered by the coat of a new ice age. Its sand hills were frozen, its dunes drifts of snow..." She stopped when she noticed Moonwatcher's gaze on her and gave him a questioning look.  
"Oh ... it's nothing," Moonwatcher said and quickly busied himself with another book to put away. "I guess... I just like to hear your read. Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt you."  
"Looks like I found a way to make you visit more often then," Luna cheekily said before she continued her reading.

Once again Moonwatcher picked Luna up from work. They had been seeing each other for a couple of days by now. Most of them were spent inside, after her working hours, surrounded by books - not just the library but also her home. It was odd, but with her he felt calmer than he ever felt before and sometimes he could also just sit and listen to her without feeling the need to do something else during it.  
"I know it's a bit later than usual but care to take a walk with me anyways today?" he asked.  
"I'd love to," Luna replied.  
Moonwatcher took a running jump, landed on the handrail and slid down the stairs. When he was almost at the bottom he jumped off and with a slight bow offered her his arm to walk down the last few steps together. She chuckled and gladly took his arm.

The streets they took were already empty. The only other person they passed was a hobo sleeping on a bench at the edge of a park. As if following a sudden flight of fancy Moonwatcher changed direction, sneaked closer to him and quickly stuffed every bit of money he still carried into the hobo's bag.   
"I don't need it anyways," he explained with a shrug when he walked back. "Haven doesn't ask for a rent and whenever I need food my mother is always happy to have me for dinner."  
"Maybe I should too," Luna said with a pang of guilt, realising she would have passed without a second thought.  
"It's from both of us. You can pay me back whenever you want. Maybe with a dinner as well," Moonwatcher told her. He took her arm again and they continued their way.  
He gave her a worried look as she stayed in a gloomy mood but then his face lit up again with a sudden idea. He stepped towards the snow covered grass fields of the park, took a handful of snow and with an impish grin ran back to her and stuffed it into the back of her coat.  
Luna screamed and spun around. "What the... Oh, you'll pay for this."  
She grabbed a handful of snow as well and threw it at the still laughing Moonwatcher. For a couple of minutes they were engaged in a wild snowball fight- which Luna seemed to win.  
"I'm dead," Moonwatcher groaned laying flat in the snow. "How can you be so good at this?"  
Luna sat down as well, trying to catch her breath and shrugged. "I have four brothers."  
For a little while they sat and watched the night sky in silence. Then all of a sudden Luna said, "I am not sure we can go on like this." Her expression had turned into one of sadness and seeing his surprise she continued, "You are a Guardian. A very beloved one at that. And I... well, there is nothing I can give to this world. Hell, I am even barely known outside my family. We both might be dreamers but all I can do is dreaming my life while you are actually living it. And trying to include everyone you meet into those dreams. People will think that you are just together with me because it makes me happy. And sometimes I am wondering if it might actually be true..."  
"To hell with what other people think!" Moonwatcher called out. He startled awake a few small animals who had been hiding in the bushes - and immediately turned around and apologised for it. He turned back to Luna, cupped her face in his hands and with a gentle voice told her, "I might often want to make other people happy but in this case I have to admit I was selfish. With you around I had been calmer than I had ever been before. And I just generally liked being around you. You allowed my mind to fly while keeping my body grounded. Am I babbling nonsense?"  
"Not more than usual," Luna quietly said with a hint of a smile returning to her face. She carefully raised a hand and put it on top of Moonwatcher's. "So you really mean it?"  
""Damn well I mean it. And I can show you how much I mean it."  
With that he drew her closer and into a kiss.

~~~***~~~

Slowly Moonwatcher opened his eyes. They hadn't just met in winter, later they had also married during that season. Hard to believe this had already happened so many decades ago. He raised his hand to the sky, tried to catch a few snowflakes. A ring glittered on his fingers. Even long after Luna's death he still wore his wedding ring, probably always would. And in a way she still lived on - in his own memories and in their son. Probably even in her studies which he had decided to continue - after their marriage she had become an astronomer after all.  
He was slowly getting cold now. Maybe it was time to go home now, warm up and get some sleep. After a last spin he walked away from the place, let his traces be covered under a soft blanket of snow again - an open area near the city where decades ago a market had been and where two Echidnas had met for the very first time.

**Author's Note:**

> What Luna starts reading to Moonwatcher at the library are the first lines from the third book of The Flowing Queen trilogy by Kai Meyer - translated from German by me. I just thought it was a fitting read for Moonwatcher.
> 
> Inspirational music: The book of love by Peter Gabriel


End file.
